


Stay with me, don't let go

by arnacros



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Falling In Love, Family, Family Loss, Fear, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Jericho (Detroit: Become Human), Loss, Love Confessions, M/M, OC is a former firefighter, Shock, Simon is a gay disaster, kind of slow burn, no beta we die like men, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-23
Updated: 2018-07-23
Packaged: 2019-06-15 00:50:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15401304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arnacros/pseuds/arnacros
Summary: A firefighter android walks into Jericho.-The title is taken from the song "Ashes of Eden" by Breaking Benjamin





	Stay with me, don't let go

There wasn’t a whole lot Simon knew about Terrance other than his model number and function. The way the android stumbled into Jericho in his yellow uniform with reflective stripes around his arms, legs and torso – hair dishevelled and face dirty – caused quite a stir. His model number (FD400) was barely visible, and the only properly recognizable parts of his uniform were the blue triangles on his back and on the front of his jacket. The android had introduced himself as Terrance, an android made for the Detroit fire department. That was one of the few things Terrance had said, after which he always silently sat in a corner of the room, observing the other androids carefully. North had tried to talk to him, which only resulted in her getting frustrated because he didn’t respond to her. Josh thought it’d be smarter to give Terrance some time for himself, which Simon agreed with. Not everyone wanted to share the story of how and why they deviated. A perfectly understandable reason to keep to yourself.

Yet Simon was still curious.

Which is how he found himself following the FD400 outside in the middle of the night, one and a half week after Terrance had arrived. He seemed to know his way around (he probably went outside every night), climbing stairs and containers on the freighter. After ten minutes of climbing, they arrived in the middle of the ship. Simon looked up at the sky. The full moon was bright tonight. The longer he looked, the more stars showed up. It was a beautiful night.

Simon looked forward again and saw that Terrance had climbed up another container, on which he was sitting. He rested his back against another one behind him, looking forward. Simon couldn’t follow his gaze. Instead, he decided to climb on top of the container too. He pulled himself up but noticed it was more slippery than he thought it was, so naturally, he almost slipped. Before that could happen, however, a hand caught him and pulled him up. Simon looked up and stared into two dark brown eyes. They had the colour of the coffee Simon had served his masters every morning before they went to work. ‘Thanks,’ Simon said, realizing he was staring. The other android nodded and went back to his former position. Simon crawled over and sat down beside him. That’s when he started to observe the other.

Terrance had swapped his uniform for black jeans, a grey shirt with a faded print on it (some space-themed band, Simon guessed. All he could make out was the word Star), a grey hoodie and a black leather jacket on top of it. He still had the same boots on as when he came in. Terrance had also cleaned up. Simon could now see the tiny details on his face, the small freckles that seemed to cover his entire face and neck. He had eyebags, which gave him the appearance of a tired human. His dark brown hair was neatly combed and parted on the left. The LED on the right side of his face was spinning yellow (which it had from the very first moment they met, it had turned blue). Simon sighed when he caught himself staring. Again.

‘Did you know I was following you?’

Terrance nodded.

‘How long?’

‘… the beginning. You’re not… Not so subtle,’ Terrance replied, a bitter smile appearing on his face. Simon blushed in shame. ‘Sorry, I was just wondering where you went. It’s pretty peaceful out here, isn’t it?’ Simon said with a smile on his own face. He wasn’t lying, about both wondering where Terrance went and it being peaceful. Terrance nodded again. A silence fell, one Simon found uncomfortable. He didn’t know why. He considered getting up and leaving Terrance by himself, but something kept him from leaving. Simon blamed it on curiosity.

‘They say you’re a maid,’ Terrance said out of the blue, his gaze not leaving wherever he was looking at. Simon was a bit taken back by the sudden statement. ‘Well, technically I am a family domestic assistant,’ he told the other. ‘So, a maid,’ it sounded very blunt to the blonde android, but Terrance couldn’t be blamed for it. He was probably still trying to figure out emotions after all. Simon couldn’t help but chuckle at the other. ‘Yes, a maid,’ Simon agreed with him. This seemed to satisfy the other and Terrance visibly relaxed a bit. There was another silence, but it was less uncomfortable than the one from before. Simon suddenly felt two arms wrap around him in a tight embrace and he saw how Terrance rested his head on his chest.

Simon smiled and couldn’t help but wrap his arms around the other android.

The next few nights, Terrance started to ask Simon if he could join him to look at the stars together. It was always the same – they would climb onto the containers (Terrance making sure Simon wouldn’t slip again), sit down in the same spot in silence and always ending up hugging. Simon quickly realized that Terrance had trouble talking, expressing himself in words. One night, they were sitting together, Terrance resting his head on Simons' shoulder, Simon holding him close when Terrance asked the question. ‘Do you… like children?’ he softly asked, carefully thinking about what he was going to say. Simon felt himself smile yet again. ‘I think I do. I was programmed to take care of them after all,’ he responded, looking down to his companion. He was met with Terrance’s eyes, big brown orbs that finally showed some kind of sparkle of excitement. ‘That’s.. nice. I… I like children too. They make me… feel happy,’ the FD400 said with a smile. An actual, genuine smile. Simon felt his heart skip a beat at the sight. ‘Why?’ he asked, wondering if he’d get an answer. Terrance shrugged. ‘They remind me… Of the captain. He was a big child… but very brave,’ he mumbled softly. Simon frowned. ‘He’d sometimes take me home… and let me play with his… daughter,’ the broken sentence with the most emotion Simon had ever heard from him. ‘She was… nice. They were nice. They’re like… you, but different,’ Terrance continued with his soft voice.

‘Why is that?’ Simon asked, letting curiosity get the better of him again. He saw the LED of the younger android spin from his usual yellow to a bright red. ‘Because they are dead… my family is dead…’ Terrance said with a trembling voice. His smile had faded and was replaced by sadness. Simon didn’t want to push it any further. ‘I promise you, I won’t die. I’ll stay with you,’ the words had left the PL600’s mouth before he knew. Could he keep the promise? Probably not, with as little supplies they had… Yet Simon didn’t have the heart to tell the trembling android in his arms. So he just kissed the top of the other’s head and rubbed little circles on his shoulder. ‘I’ll stay with you for as long as my thirium pump allows me to.’

Simon noticed Terrance would stay closer and closer to him by each passing day. He himself began to feel quite attached to the other android, making sure he was feeling comfortable and that he got to know others as well. Simon encouraged Terrance to talk to Josh more, who started to help Terrance with his speech. Terrance even seemed to start talking to North at some point, even if they were brief conversations about how they were feeling that day. It warmed Simons heart that the former-firefighter finally opened up to the people of Jericho. Their meetings, however, didn’t stop. More and more often Terrance would talk about his old life with “the captain”, a human whose name was Jack Montgomery. The man had a daughter named Sophia, a girl around ten years old. Simon on the other hand, found himself looking Terrance’s way more and more often. He felt embarrassed every time Terrance looked his way and waved with a smile whenever Simon got lost in the man. He couldn’t quite put his finger on all tingling sensations in his stomach area whenever Terrance seemed happy. But deep in his heart, he knew he had fallen for the firefighter.

Then the night came where Markus fell into Jericho. They were hidden because of all the loud noises coming from the ship, Terrance standing very close to Simon. They circled the newcomer, afraid of what he’d be. Simon felt a hand grasp his, which made the blonde blush a bit. They found out Markus was another android, so that definitely calmed the rest down. They all returned to their previous tasks. Simon waited for Markus to talk to him. Terrance sat in his usual spot, reading some book he found on the ship. Markus was exploring Jericho, lighting fires in the steel barrels and talking to different people. Simon decided to give him time, which made him look Terrance’s way again. The android had closed the book and was staring to one of the near barrels with a blank face. This… wasn’t good. Simon made his way over and sat down next to him. ‘Terrance, are you alright?’ he asked, taking one of Terrance’s hands in his. Simon felt the other android shake now. Terrance shook his head. ‘C-can’t…’ he mumbled, still looking at the fire. Simon was concerned, so he got up and offered Terrance his hand. ‘Let’s go outside for a bit, shall we?’

Fifteen minutes later, they sat down at their usual spot. Terrance had immediately wrapped himself around Simon, who hugged him back. Terrance was still trembling. ‘Do you mind telling me what’s making you feel this way?’ Simon asked, making sure to rub Terrance’s shoulder. ‘T-The fire… It made me remember…’ he stumbled over his words. His LED was spinning a red colour, which only made Simon more concerned. ‘Remember what, exactly?’ the older android asked. Terrance looked up at him, eyes filled with tears. Simon felt his heartbreak at the sight of Terrance’s state. ‘It made me remember how scared I am. It made me remember when everyone died. When Alex died. When Peter died. When Tony died. When J-James died… How I failed to save the captain and oh RA9, how I couldn’t save sweet little Sophia,’ tears were now streaming down his face, hands holding onto Simons clothes tightly, as if he was scared Simon would die as well. ‘I am so scared, Simon,’ Terrance admitted, lowering his head in shame again. ‘I’m so incredibly scared of fire.’

Simon thought about it for a second. A firefighter scared of fire seemed weird at first. He was programmed to not be scared of it, right? But then logic started to kick in and it suddenly all made sense to Simon: Terrance had lost so many people dear to him to flames and what else. Of course he was going to be scared of flames. ‘Terrance, it’s okay. The fire isn’t going to hurt you,’ Simon tried, unconsciously wiping the tears away. Terrance shook his head. ‘I don’t give a d-damn about me getting hurt, I don’t want you to get hurt! I don’t want to lose someone I love to fire again!’ he shouted. Simon shushed him by cupping his face. ‘Listen to me, it’s fine. It’ll be fine. The chance of us dying here is very very small because Jericho is a very humid place. And I’m sure that if it happens, you’ll help us get to safety,’ he calmly said, still wiping away the tears. His words and his touch seemed to have an impact on the other, so he decided to link up with the other to calm him down.

The first thing he saw was burning corpses. He heard a lot of screaming – and then a loud explosion. Then there was a wall, which was torn down. Suddenly there was a dead human in his lap. The tag on his coat said; ‘Captain Montgomery’. There was blood everywhere. Everything went black, and then Simon suddenly… saw himself. He saw himself talk to the other Jericho members. He saw himself reading a book. He saw himself slipping from that goddamn container and he felt the panic when Terrance saw it happen. There were more and more images of himself, and then Terrance’s voice.

_‘I want you to be safe. I want you to be happy. I don’t want you to be in pain. I want you. I want you. I want you. I need you. I need you. I lo-‘_

Terrance jerked away from Simons touch, panic on his face. He blushed, and Simon saw a bright blue dusted across his cheeks. Was Terrance embarrassed by himself? Ashamed? Simon didn’t know, but the other took his distance. ‘S-Sorry Simon,’ the FD400 mumbled, tears still running down his cheeks. Simon moved over to Terrance and cupped his face with both hands again. He wiped away some more tears and then leaned in and kissed Terrance. He felt the other stiffen at first, but then Simon took his hand and linked up with him again.

 _I love you too, Terrance. I promise I’ll stay with you for the rest of our lives,_ he told the other, filling his words with as much emotion as possible. Terrance calmed down at this, and slowly kissed him back. Simon closed his eyes. This felt… Right to him and he smiled into the kiss. The world seemed to fade around them and all Simon could focus on was the way Terrance clumsily pulled him closer. After a while, Simon pulled back and smiled at the other. He noticed the LED just turned blue.

It was the first time he ever saw his new lover with a blue LED.

**Author's Note:**

> So this felt all over the place, but I wrote this in the middle of the night. I just needed a break from my main fanfic so this was definitely nice to write. English is not my first language, so I apologise for any mistakes. Maybe I'll continue this and turn this into a series, but I'll leave it at this for now!


End file.
